Beef with broccoli in a garlic butter cream sauce. A twist on beef & broccoli. Very quick and easy, mouth watering, SOOOO tender and full of flavor! Tough rubbery steaks will be a thing of your past. The broccoli soaks up all the delicious garlic butter cream sauce perfectly. This is how you take a cheap cut of thin steak and make a beautiful delicious feast that’s sure to please! Keto friendly too!
You may also like these other keto friendly meals, crispy but tender smothered chicken with bok choy and mushrooms or maybe, cheesy spinach steak rolls, beef asparagus rolls, chicken in creamy arugula Parmesan sauce, or Italian dressing chicken (one of my favs).
If you’re a big fan of the usual beef with broccoli then you will love this beef with broccoli with a twist. It comforting, hearty and full of flavor! All you need is thin steak, broccoli, heavy whipping cream and butter, garlic, salt and pepper and a couple other ingredient (for the tenderizing marinade). That is it!
What type of steak to buy for beef with broccoli or any meal using thin steaks?
Everyone loves a good steak but they can get pretty pricey. If you can’t afford expensive cuts of beef but love steak then this beef with broccoli recipe is perfect for you. Use whatever cheap thin (quick) steak you can find. You should be able to easily find pre-cut thin steaks at your local grocery store. I was able to find a value pack of sirloin thin steaks out of impulse one day for only a whopping $6 and some change.
This beef with broccoli in a garlic butter cream sauce turned out spectacular! My picky 5 year old loved it and even ate all of his broccoli. He also asked for seconds. How shocking! I’m always relieved and ecstatic when he enjoys his meals. My other toddler is still a work in progress. He is way pickier than his brother.
You can use whatever thin steak you want. Some steak suggestions are, flank, skirt, top sirloin. Ask your butcher to slice the steak thin for you, or you can place the steak in the freezer to partially freeze it then cut it thinly. Honestly, any type of quick cooking steak will work but remember, make sure it’s thin. Secondly, tenderize it per the directions in the below recipe.
How to tenderize steak for beef with broccoli or any meal?
Rubbery tough steak is the worst! I told my friend that this steak is so stupid tender, you don’t need teeth to enjoy it. She “LOL’d.” The steaa is truly tender. I got tenderizing trick from America’s Test Kitchen. You won’t ever try another tenderizing method once you try ATK’s method out. No need to use a store bought tenderizer and no more pounding your steak madly.
This quick and easy method again works on any type of thin steak. To get the most tender beef steak ever, all you need is, baking soda, cornstarch, water and an acid. I used balsamic vinegar but you can use whatever vinegar you have available. Add the tenderizer ingredients to a ziploc bag. Add your beef steak and let it sit at room temperature for 30-35 minutes then pat them dry, lightly season the steaks with salt and pepper. That’s it. You must lightly season the beef steaks with salt and pepper. Please don’t want to go overboard with the seasoning.
How to cook beef with broccoli using any thin beef steak?
Since the steaks are very thin, you’ll want to cook them as quickly as possible. A quick sear is that is. Heat a skillet oh high until its smoking hot. I used my cast iron skillet but a nonstick skillet works fine too. Add butter then add the beef steak in batches. Do not overcrowd the skillet or your steak will steam and not sear. You want a nice quick sear on both sides of the steak so before you add the steaks to the skillet, make sure the skillet is VERY hot first. Cook the steak for 30-45 seconds without disturbing or moving it around. If the skillet is hot enough then the beef steaks will sear quickly. Once the steak is done. Flip the steak and cook the other side for another 30-45 seconds.
What to look for when buying broccoli?
I usually buy fresh broccoli. You’ll want to make sure the broccoli has tight bright and green florets with no brown spots and firm stems. Store the broccoli in your fridge crisp drawer. When you are ready to use it cut off the stem and floret trunks. You will end up with small pieces of broccoli.
How to cook broccoli?
I’m sure you already know how to cook broccoli but just in case you don’t, now you know. I literally just realized (thanks to a little research) that the phrase “how to cook broccoli” is googled 74,000 times a month! Wow! I learn something new everyday.
There are several ways to cook broccoli, blanching, microwaved broccoli, roasted broccoli etc. My favorite and fastest method is to steam the broccoli on the stove top. Season the broccoli lightly with salt. Pepper is optional but I love to add it too. In a pot with 1/4 cup of boiling water over medium high heat, add the broccoli. Cook for for 3-8 minutes until your desired tenderness. I always cook the broccoli right before the beef steak done. So make sure your timing is right.
Broccoli is great with most beef recipes. I like to have steamed broccoli with my popular Best Meatloaf. Try adding steamed broccoli to rice. It’s perfect in Quick Hoppin John. In the mood for stir fry? Omit the string beans in this Garlicky Sweet Thai Chili and Green Beans Stir Fry and add broccoli. Vegetable Pasta with broccoli and carrots is perfect for a meatless spring dinner then wash it down with a tall glass of cold Red Wine Lemonade.
How to cook tender beef with broccoli?
This beef and broccoli recipe is something I wouldn’t cook often but it makes a great every now and then dinner. Everything in moderation right? To make it healthier, you can omit the garlic butter cream sauce. It’s still delicious either way.
After the steak is done, remove it from skillet and cover it in foil then make the easy garlic butter cream sauce. The cream sauce is pretty basic but so darn good. I like to use heavy whipping cream, butter, fresh garlic, salt and pepper. That’s it. If you’re on a special diet and want to lighten up the cream sauce, you could use a combo of regular milk and heavy whipping cream. If you only use milk you won’t get that rich cream sauce flavor.
I love steak so I couldn’t resist add a little richness to sauce plus it tastes amazing with the bright green broccoli. You can never go wrong with garlic butter cream sauce with beef and broccoli! It’s lip smacking good!
Once the garlic butter cream sauce is done add the beef steaksback to the skillet with the broccoli and toss to coat the steak in the wonderful cream sauce.
Don’t forget to add the creamy mashed or baked potatoes on the side. So delicious. And there you have it. A delicious beef and broccoli with super tender mouth-water steak. So easy to make with minimal ingredients. With this tenderizing technique you’ll make the most tender beef and broccoli or any quick thin steak meal cheap and fast!
Don’t forget to check out these other keto friendly meals., crispy but tender smothered chicken with bok choy and mushrooms or maybe, cheesy spinach steak rolls, beef asparagus rolls, chicken in creamy arugula Parmesan sauce, or Italian dressing chicken (one of my favs, keto friendly with keto Italian dressing).
How to take a cheap cut of thin beef steak and make extremely tender mouth-watering pan seared thin steak and broccoli in a garlic butter cream sauce. So quick and easy!
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3 tsp cornstarch
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tsp any kind of vinegar. I used balsamic
- 1 lb any thin cut beef steak (I used thin sirloin)
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream or do half milk half heavy whipping cream
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- salt for taste
- pepper for taste
- 1 head broccoli
- 1/4 tsp red crushed peppers (optional)
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I didn't cut beef steaks but you can cut yours into smaller pieces if you like. To a ziploc the first 4 ingredients then add the steaks. Make sure the tenderizer liquid coats all the beef steaks. Let the steaks sit at room temperature for 30-35 minutes. Remove the steaks and with a paper towel, pat dry.
In a small pot with 1/4 cup of boiling water over medium high heat, add the broccoli. Cook for for 3-8 minutes until your desired tenderness.
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Heat a nonstick skillet or a cast iron skillet over high heat. Once the skillet is very very hot add 1 or 2 tablespoon of butter. Add two tablespoons of butter if you are cooking all of the beef steaks together and not in batches. If you are cooking the beef steaks in two batches, reserve one tablespoon of butter for the second batch of steaks.
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Give the skillet a twirl so the butter can coat the entire skillet. Add the steaks. You may have to add the beef steaks in batches. Do not overcrowd the skillet or the steaks may steam. Do not move or disturb the beef steaks. Let them cook for 30-45 seconds on each side. Remove the steaks and place them in foil and cover.
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In the same skillet you cooked the steaks in, heat the remaining butter over medium high heat. Once the butter has melted add the garlic and red crushed pepper. Cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add the heavy whipping cream and stir scraping up the bits from the pan. Add the beef steaks back into the skillet then add the broccoli. Toss to coat the beef steaks and broccoli in the garlic butter cream sauce. Serve immediately with mashed or baked potatoes.
To lighten up this dish feel free to use half and half or a combination of heavy whipping cream and milk.
*The recipe's total time from start to finish does not include the 30-35 minutes tenderizer marinade time.
